Maybe Tea Isn't That Bad
by TeaandCryingSloths
Summary: Arthur is stuck at Sylvi's house during a blizzard. The heater goes out, and they have to find ways to stay warm.
_Sylvi- Female Norway_
 _Arthur- England_

Goosebumps covered Sylvi's arms and legs as she pulled her beige wool blanket around her. Her usual hairstyle, a high bun, was abandoned due to the fact that when her wavy platinum blonde hair was down, it covered her neck and half of her back, keeping it warm.  
To her side, her friend Arthur laid curled up, attempting to conserve body heat. Shivers ran through both of their bodies as they sat in silence, which was only broken by the sound of their teeth chattering and the howling of the blizzard outside.  
Arthur broke the silence,  
"There must be a better way of getting warm"  
Sylvi looked up, unconsciously pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders,  
"A working heater would be nice."  
Arthur rolled his eyes, getting to his feet,  
"That would help, but since the repairman isn't coming 'till tomorrow, we'll have to make due with something else warm."  
Arthur looked at Sylvi,  
"Any suggestions?"  
"Drinks can be warm..."  
Arthur gave a weird leap of joy, "Let's go make tea then!"  
Sylvi scrunched her nose. "Tea is gross. Make coffee."  
"Fine. I'll make you coffee, and I can have tea, but I'll only make you coffee if you come with me."  
"Nope." Sylvi shook her head, crossing her arms, "Not movin'. Too cold."  
"Ugh, I'll drag you there then"  
"Do your worst you foul cold-loving demon."  
And drag her he did.

When they arrived in the kitchen,((Arthur halfway dragging Sylvi, Sylvi crawling forward while trying to keep ahold of the warm blanket around her)) Arthur set to work, pouring water into a kettle and heating it up. Sylvi scrambled closer to the stove, hugging it in order to get warmth.  
"If you're really that desperate for warmth, then why don't you go and buy a new heater?  
"Shut up."  
"Just saying"  
Sylvi opened her mouth to make a snide comment, but was interrupted by a screaming wind, pounding against the windows, begging to get in.  
She opted for silence.  
A few moments passed, until the kettle began to screech. They both jumped at the sound, and Arthur quickly took it off the stove. Sylvi grumbled in protest as her main source of warmth was taken away.  
"How dare you."  
"Relax, you'll have coffee soon and you won't be cold anymore."  
"Not soon enough..."  
Arthur ignored this statement and began shuffling through the snack cabinet, pulling out quite the selection of teabags.  
"Why do you even have tea if you don't drink it?" He inquired, looking down at Sylvi.  
"They're for you..." Sylvi muttered, avoiding eye contact and twisting her hair between her fingers.  
"Oh...Okay..."  
He then reached back into the cabinet, snatching up the jar of coffee , he squinted at it, as though he were confused "It's strangely light..."  
He opened it and froze.  
"Uh, Sylvi? We might have a problem."  
Sylvi leaped to her feet, immediately concerned for her precious coffee beans, "What is it?!"  
"There aren't anymore coffee beans..."  
Sylvi's curious expression turned to one of distress,  
"What!" She gasped, lunging upwards and snatching to jar from Arthur's hands, looking inside. When she finally looked up,Arthur saw that she was close to tears  
"D-don't worry!" He tried to comfort her, "You can have tea instead!"  
"I don't want your stupid tea! It's probably really nasty and just tastes like warm water!"  
"You make it seem like you've never had tea before!"  
"I haven't!"  
"Then why are you against it?"  
"Because it looks gross!"  
Arthur yanked on his dirty blonde hair, a frustrated habit of his.  
"Just try it!"  
He poured some of the water into a cup and shoved a chamomile teabag into it, stirred it, then shoved it towards Sylvi,  
"Here,try it."  
"No way."  
"Yes way!"  
"No way!"  
"Yes way!"  
"No way!"  
"Yes way!  
"Yes way!"  
"No way!"  
"Okay."  
"You git!"  
Arthur put on his best puppy dog face "Come on, pleeeeease?"  
Sylvi covered her eyes  
"You're not gonna convince me!"  
"Fine. I'll just be warm, and you can freeze."  
Arthur took the cup and drank, warmth filling him as he emptied the cup.  
"Wow, I'm not cold anymore!" He prompted  
Arthur swore that he saw a flash of regret cross Sylvi's face for a moment,  
"Whatever," she shivered "I'm going to bed."  
Arthur shrugged "Your loss."  
Sylvi didn't show any sign of hearing as she retreated to her room, slamming the door behind her.  
Arthur decided that it was time for him to go to bed as well, and trudged back to where Sylvi had told him the leftover rooms were, ignoring the sound of chattering teeth coming from behind Sylvi's bedroom door. He chose the first door he came across, and opened it. The room was rather small, but he didn't mind. He didn't need much space. It took him less than five steps to arrive at the foot of the tiny light green bed and flop down on it.  
A minute passed and he had already dropped away into a deep sleep. 

Arthur awoke to the sound of a sharp bump, followed closely by a hissed "Ow!"  
He sat up, any confusion he had leaving him as he recognized the voice as Sylvi's. The clock to his right read 4:00am,  
'What's she doing up at this ungodly hour?'  
Arthur listened intently to the shuffling noises coming from outside his door. A moment of silence followed the bump, then shuffling,signaling that Sylvi was moving. An added slithering noise showed that she was dragging something along with her.  
Arthur threw his legs over the side of the bed, trying to be as silent as possible. He snuck over to the mahogany door, opening it slightly just in time to see Sylvi disappear down the stairs, with the same blanket as the day before wrapped around her shoulders.  
Slowly, he eased the door open enough for him to sneak through, and tip-toed to the wall to the side of the stairs. Arthur looked around the corner just in time to see Sylvi lose her footing and tumble the rest of the way downstairs. Almost blowing his cover, Arthur snorted with laughter and whipped back around the wall, covering his mouth to hold in his snickers. He could hear her cursing, and took a few breaths, calming down enough to peek back around the corner.  
He was surprised to see that she was gone. Arthur waited a few seconds before sneaking down the steps, careful not to make any noise. Sometimes being careful is not enough.  
He froze as a loud creaking noise reached his ears as he stepped down onto the last step.  
Arthur sat still, listening for the noise of footsteps approaching. Thankfully, they never came.  
He let out a deep breath and proceded down to the kitchen, where light streamed through the door.  
He rounded the corner, and came face to face with Sylvi. She was staring at him, mug clutched in her hands, looking quite unsteady on her feet.  
She swayed from side to side, blinking.  
"Uh, hello?" Arthur leaned forward, waving his hand infront of her face. "Are you okay?"  
"Hm?" Sylvi shook her head, clearing it, "Yeah, 'm fine"  
She took a long sip out of the mug. When she lowered it from her lips, Arthur realized that it was tea.  
"So you finally gave up trying to resist my British powers!"  
Sylvi glared at him, "Whatever you just meant, my answer is no. I was just a little cold, so I decided to have some."  
She raised the glass again, "Nothing more nothing less."  
Arthur stood there, shuffling his feet as Sylvi finished off the tea and set the mug down.  
"You're really bad at sneaking around by the way." She huffed, "I heard you from a mile away."  
Arthur laughed, "You're not rich enough to have a mile long house!"  
Sylvi sneezed, Arthur laughed at her. Until she smacked him.  
"Ow!"  
"Serves you right," she glowered at him.  
Arthur sat there staring at her, trying to fight down his smile.  
Sylvi crossed her arms, staring at him,  
"Well? Aren't you going back to bed? It's quite early..."  
"I think I'm awake now, due to the fact that you just tried to knock my teeth out."  
Sylvi nodded and turned to look through the window, gazing at the indigo sky, the bright freckled stars slowly disappearing as night became day. The blizzard had stopped, and stray snowflakes drifted down, joining the piles of soft white, piled up to the bottom of the window. Arthur walked up behind her,  
"Beautiful, isn't it?" He whispered.  
"Ja."  
"It'd be better if you could see it from outside, not through a pane of glass." Arthur pulled on Sylvi's arm, dragging her outside, into the cold.  
"So why were you so reluctant to drink tea? It's not like it was gonna kill you."  
"It could have," Sylvi replied in a monotone voice, quirking an eyebrow as if to say 'Don't you argue with me'.  
"Alright, fine. It could have."  
Arthur nodded.  
Sylvi continued on as if he hadn't spoken, "But I guess it's because tea is basically leaf water". She sat down on one of the wooden benches on the porch, and Arthur followed suit. She laid down, settling her head on Arthur's shoulder. He chuckled," Coffee is just bean water".  
Sylvi nodded, "True".  
They fell silent, eyes wandering over the scene in front of them. The dark indigo sky became light blue, and the snow shimmered in the light. Along the street, lights flickered to life from inside houses, and children raced outside, and flopped into the snow, the silence of night broken by joyful laughter. Arthur watched in amusement as an older brother snuck up behind his younger, snow in hand. When the boy wasn't looking, the older boy shoved the snow down the back of his shirt, cackling as the younger one flipped out , flailing desperately to get the cold substance off his back.  
Arthur turned to Sylvi, "I should get stuck at your house more often".  
The only answer he got was a snore.

Extra: When the repairman came the next day, he discovered that the heater wasn't broken, just turned off.


End file.
